Intensity-level-selection-based wind retrieval from shipborne nautical X-band radar data

Abstract

In this paper, a modified intensity-level-selection-based algorithm for sea surface wind retrieval from shipborne X-band nautical radar images is presented. A data quality control process is introduced to improve the accuracy of wind measurements, including the recognition of blockages and islands in the temporally integrated radar images. Moreover, a harmonic function is used to least-squares fit the selected range vector to antenna look directions to improve the wind direction determination. The wind information obtained from the radar data is compared with shipborne anemometer results. The modified algorithm reduces the mean differences between the radar and the anemometer results for wind direction and speed by about 7.4° and 1.2 m/s, respectively.